stearns



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet '1.

H. F. STE ARNS.

TOB OGGANI No. 354,947. 4 Patented Dem-28, 1886.

N. PETERS.- PuuwLm-u n nm. Wnahingtm a. c.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H. F. STEARNS.

'TOBOGGAN. v No. 354,947. Patented Dec. 28, 1886.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY F. STEARNS, OF SARATOGA, NElV, YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOEDMUND G. RAWSON, OF SAME PLACE. V

TOBOGGAN.,

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent; N0.354,94'7, dated December 28,1886.

Application filed January 7, 1886.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY F. STEARNS, of Saratoga, in the county of Saratoga and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Toboggans, of which the following is a specification.

The objects of my invention are, first, to provide with the thin and close-panel body of toboggans wood slatshoes which will preto serve the lower side of the body from wear and at the same time strengthen the same in its longitudinal direction; second, to provide. this thin close-panel body and its attached wood slat shoes with cross-slats secured trans- 1 versly to the upper side of said panel so as to strengthen the samein its cross-direction and prevent the panel-body being broken by the weight thereon. I attain these objects by the means .illustrated in the accompanying 2o drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a toboggan embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 isa plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a view from the rear end. Fig. 4 is a view from the front end. Fig. 5 is a View of the toboggan from its lower side. Fig. 6 is a side View on an enlarged scale and illustrating particular features of this invention. Fig. 7 is a plan view showing the arrangement of the shoes and cross-slat with the deck. Fig. 8 is a sectional .view taken at line 1 in Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the same, taken at line 2, Fig. 7. Figs. 10, 11, and 12 are modified forms of the running'shoes which I employ in 3 5 my improved toboggan.

The same letters of reference refer to like parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings, A is the deck-body of the tobo'ggan, and A is the curved front of the 0 same, which deck-body and curved front are made of any light, strong, and tough wood-- such as basswood, elm, or other wood-cut in sheet or panel form, and with a thickness of about one-eighth of an inch, more or less, and 5 with a width of about sixteen to eighteen inches, more or less, or as the width of the toboggan. This deck is preferably made as a single piece and runs from the rear end of the toboggan forward so as to include the forward I and'upturned or curved front; but this deckpiece can be made in sections of two or more Serial No. 187,838. (No model.)

lengths in the whole extension'of the toboggan, and be spliced at any suitable point beneath one of the cross-bars, if desired.

B B are duplex slat shoes, three or more, arranged longitudinally beneath the deck-panel A, and extended in parallel lines from the rear end of the said deck to the forward end of the same, with one of said shoes at each edge or side of the deck and another shoe be tween, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5. These slat shoes are made of hard woodsuch as oak, hickory, maple, beech, or other suitable woodand are shaped so as to'present a crosssection similar to that shown in Figs. 10 and 11, and which will include the sliding-soles b b and web a between,all in continuity, as shown in said figures. In practice I prefer to make these slat .shoes B about two and one-half inches wide and about fiveeighths of an inch in thickness from the upper side of web a to the lower surfaceof the sliding-soles b I). These sliding-soles are preferably made with a halfrou'nd form, as shown in Fig. 10, though they maybe made with a flat narrow bearing-sun face, as shown in Fig. 11, if prefered. These slat shoes B are shown to be extended from the rear end of deck A to the curved front A, and curved back with the said front, as shown, in and'secured with the curved wood of the deck-front A by screws or rivets.

G O are crossslats firmly secured across the deck A from side edge to side edge, as shown. These slats are made of tough hard wood, and are secured with the deck-panel A to the slat shoes B B by rivets c c, which pass through the web a between the sliding-soles b b of the shoes -B, as shown. These cross-slats are set about sixteen to eighteen inches apart and secured at each crossing of a shoe, B, by rivets c.

D is a stiffeningpiece, secured to the terminal end of the curved deck A and extended from one side edge to the other, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 6. i

E E are hand-holding cords or ropes, which are arranged one at each side of the toboggan at a short distance inward from the edges of the same, as shown. These hand -holding cords or ropes extend from the rear end of the toboggan to the front cross-bar, O, and then 1 rise upward to the stiffening-piece D.

By my above-described improvements I retain all the advantages attending the use of the old close-panel or sheet-form toboggan heretofore used, in which the body in its entire length, including the upturned or back-curved front, were so tight as to prevent snow and particles of ice being worked from the track of the slide to the upper surface of the deck occupied by the rider, and am enabled to use thinner sheets of wood, of single thickness, than heretofore could be used, and protect the same from wear on its lower side, and also stifien and strengthen the body of the toboggan both in its longitudinal and cross directions, so that a tobpggan of less weight will be made strong to sustain its load without liability of breaking.

I am aware that toboggans have been constructed of, a series. of narrow slats or strips having curved front ends, and secured together edge to edge by means of cross bars or slats and rivets, or their equivalents, and that in some cases these narrow slats or strips have been made with plain lower surfaces, while in other cases they were made with con- Vex form of lower side surface, or with reversely-beveled lower side surface; but in all cases there were produced between the narrow slats or strips composing the toboggau longitudinal spaces, slits, ,or openings through which snow and particles of ice work up from the slide to the upper side of the deck or body, to the discomfort of the riders. In my invention I do not form the toboggan of a series of narrow strips or slats of any kind; but of a thin panel, formed of a single sheet of thin wood, which forms a tight and close deck for the tobaggan, and through which snow and ice cannot pass, and slat-form shoes made of wood, as abovedescribed, and secured to this thin sheet wood panel from its lower side to receive the wear consequent on the travel of the tobaggan over the slide, and also to strengthen the panel or deck in its longitudinal direction, so that a-very thin wood panel can be employed without liability of breakage, and without necessitating the use of cross-layered and glued veneer to produce toboggans which will be light in weight and strong to sustain their loads. These toboggans, composed of narrow strips or slats, as instanced in Letters Patent No. 312,879, to J. R. McLaren, Jr., February 24,1885, are

necessarily relatively much heavier than those made formerly of wide, thin wood panel with plain unprotected lower surface acting as the sliding-surface; but by my improvement the weight of the toboggan is materially lessened or reduced, and at the same time it is much stronger than either the slat or strip form of toboggan, or the plain wood panel toboggan.

I am aware that shoes for sleighrunners, made of strap-iron or steel or cast-iron, and havinglongitudinal convex or Vshaped ridges on the lower side to prevent sleighs from sliding sidewise on roads sloping sidewise, are old. Such shoes are not adapted to be practically applied and used with toboggans, as are my wooden duplex slat shoes, above described, and are not claimed by me as my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. In ,a toboggan, the combination, with the close thin panel deck-body A, of two or more wooden duplex slat shoes, B, constructed, arranged, and secured, substantially as described, on the lower side surface of said deck-body, for the operations and purposes set forth.

2. In a toboggan, the close panel body or deck A, in combination with two or more slat shoes, B, secured lengthwise to the lower side of said body, and cross-slats C (l, secured crosswise to the upper side of said body or deck, whereby said deck or body will be strengthened both in its longitudinal and cross directions, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. In a toboggan, the combination and arrangement, with the thin close-panel deck A and its connected or continued and curved close'panel front A, of two ormore wood slat shoes, B, above described, secured continuously to said deck and curved-panel front A, and the cross-slats O, secured transversely to the said deck and said shoes, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

HENRY F. STEARN S.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM H. MOOALL, AUGUSTINE W. SHEPHERD. 

